U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/184,984 of the present inventor, filed Jan. 24, 1994 and now allowed, and corresponding German Patent 4,301,681 disclose an arrangement in which passenger service modules of the above described general type are arranged within the cabin of a passenger aircraft, below the overhead baggage compartments that are arranged near the ceiling of the cabin. The previously disclosed arrangement allows the service modules or panels to be easily readjusted or repositioned to any desired positions along the length of the aircraft cabin, so that the cabin layout can be easily reconfigured if desired. However, it has been found that the previously disclosed arrangement can be improved.
Ever more frequently, the overhead baggage compartments in aircraft are embodied with a lower shell or pan that tilts or drops downward for opening the baggage compartment. Such a construction of the baggage compartments provides a maximum headroom and freedom of motion for the passengers when the compartment is closed, yet ensures that baggage can be easily and conveniently loaded into or unloaded from the baggage compartment when the compartment is open. However, in prior arrangements having substantially rigidly fixed passenger service modules, it has not been possible to arrange the service modules directly below such lowerable baggage compartments, because the service modules would interfere with opening the baggage compartments. For this reason, the passenger service modules are conventionally arranged at locations close to the windows or side walls of the aircraft, where they do not interfere with the downward opening of the baggage compartments, but where they are difficult to reach for passengers, especially passengers seated in the aisle seats.